


The Friendship of Boys

by Danielle_Kyzer



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-13
Packaged: 2018-10-18 13:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10618005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Danielle_Kyzer/pseuds/Danielle_Kyzer
Summary: 1st year James Potter telling his parents about his best mate Sirius Black, and his parents disapprove at first, because they don't want their son around that family. The Potters meet 11 year old Sirius for the first time when he floos into their living room one night calling for James. It's 12 am, and James is asleep, but his parents aren't and they sit down the skinny boy with the palest skin and biggest eyes & they ask him what he's doing there. He tells them he needs James, and he won't stop crying. He repeats over and over that he's sorry, but his mate James said he could come if things started getting bad again at home. By the time a bleary eyed James comes down the stairs in his pajamas, his parents have already decided to let the other boy stay awhile, and Sirius still can't get all his words out, but Ms. Potter speaks 11-year-old boy pretty well, and sends James back upstairs and put Sirius on the sofa for the night, wondering what she'll do in the morning. When she goes in to check on Sirius later, James is piled next to him, and they are both all elbows and knees, with their messy black hair on the same pillow, both of them fast asleep, and she can't help thinking that they look like they should be brothers.





	1. The Marauders Meet and Get Sorted

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the story of Harry Potter, that would be the amazing J. K.

I am on the Hogwarts Express looking out the window, but not seeing what is outside. We have ten minutes until the train leaves, but mum and dad have already left, they have somebody to meet. I am wondering what Hogwarts will be like, even though I have heard about this school from my parents since I was little. I wonder who I will be friends with, who my teachers will be, and if I will fit in. A knock sounds on the door, and it opens before I can answer. An average height boy with tanned skin and dark, curly hair walks in. He has a smile plastered on his face, but the smile does not reach his eyes.

“My I sit in here? The other compartments already have a few people,” he tells me, and his voice is steady, even, and clear. I nod my head, and he sags with relief. “I'm Sirius, Sirius Black, and you are?”

“James, James Potter. That name is familiar, are you a pureblood?” I ask, feeling self conscious since mum and dad have taught me not to judge based on such things.

“Yeah, I am heir to ancient and most noble house of Black, are you a pureblood?” He asks me, and the way he answers sounds rehearsed.

“Yeah, descended from the ancient and most noble house of Potter, but I normally don't go by my title, since I need to judge people based on their actions, not what house they are descended from.”

He looks surprised at my words, but he smiles quickly, “I like you. I wish my parents let me do that, but if I did that I would have it for sure.” I'm about to ask what he means when a tiny knock from the door interrupts me.

“Come in,” I tell whoever is on the other side. The door opens, and a tall, skinny boy with brown hair that covers his forehead stands on the other side.

“I was wondering if I could join you, the other compartments are full and I won't bother you,” he says in a small voice as if he is scared we will turn him away.

“Nonsense!” Sirius tells the boy, and he must take a different meaning that I do, for he turns away and starts to leave.

“I think Sirius meant you could stay. Come on in and close the door, what's your name?”

“Remus Lupin,” he tells us in that small voice.

“I'm Sirius Black, and this is James Potter,” he says introducing both of us. “Are you a first year?” He asks both of us, and Remus and I nod our heads. “Cool, how much do you two know about Hogwarts then?” He asks in a cheerful voice, and the smile has finally reached his eyes.

“Not much,” Remus admits.

“Are you a muggle born?” Sirius asks.

“My father is a wizard, my mum's a muggle,” he tells us, a hint of worry in his voice.

“Oh, okay, both Sirius and I have parents who are both magical,” I tell him, “but that does not mean anything to me. Blood status does not make a person, their choices do. What house do you want to be sorted into?” I ask nobody in particular.

“Well, I don't want Slytherin, my whole family is in that house, always have been, and I want to be different. I don't think I'm smart enough for Ravenclaw, so that leaves Hufflepuff and Gryffindor,” Sirius tells us.

“I don't think I'm smart enough for Ravenclaw either, I'm not brave enough for Gryffindor, and I don't think I would be accepted in Slytherin, so I guess I'm going to Hufflepuff,” Remus tells us.

“My parents want me in Gryffindor, that's where they were. I'm pretty smart, so I guess Ravenclaw is an option. I don't think I am quiet enough for Hufflepuff, I hear they are quiet, and I wouldn't be accepted in Slytherin,” I tell them. 

~

We talk about school, and life at home, and Remus is strangely quiet during that conversation. We are interrupted when the compartments door opens and a boy falls in. He is quite short and a little overweight by the looks of it, but he scrambles to his feet and the door slams in his face. He has tears streaming down his cheeks when Remus asks, “What happened? What's your name? Do you want to stay in here with us? Are you alright?”

The chubby boy looks at us and answers in a high pitched voice, “I am Peter Pettigrew, I would like to stay if it is alright with all you,” he pauses, and we all nod, “I'm fine, just a little prank.”

“A prank, we should get them back, do you remember what they look like?” Sirius looks excited now. Peter nods.

“We should think this through,” Remus says timidly.

“Of course, we don't want to be caught,” Sirius replies, and I don't think that is what Remus meant.

“We will arrive at Hogwarts in ten minutes, leave all belongings on the train, and make sure you are in your robes,” a voice says from nowhere and everywhere. We all get our robes out of our trunks, and take off jackets and sweaters. I see Sirius’ robe is brand new like mine, Peter’s looks second hand, or maybe it is just not as good quality, and Remus’ robe looks third, maybe fourth hand. When Remus lifts his sweater off his head, his shirt goes with it, and I see a scratch on his lower back.

“Hey Remus, how did you get that scratch?” I ask, and Remus looks at the ground.

“I fell,” he tells me, and though I know he is lying, I don't push.

~

When we arrive, we get off the train, and a booming voice yells over it heads, “Firs years this way. Is this all the firs years? Good, let's go,” he tells us. This man is huge, must be half giant. He leads us to the edge of a lake, and across the water is a castle, the school. There are boats in front of us, “No more than four a boat, don't need ya taking a dip in the lake.”

Remus, Sirius, Peter, and I share a boat. I see a red haired girl and a black haired boy sit alone in a boat. We glide across the water, and everybody is silent. When we make it to the school, the giant takes us into a small room with only one door. A stern faced lady with gray hair walks in, “I am Professor Mcgonagall, I teach transfiguration. This is Hagrid, he is the grounds keeper. In a moment, we will file into the room across the hall, and when I call your name, will come forward and be sorted into a house, understood?” 

A small girl with dark hair raises her hand, “What if we don't belong in any house?” She asks and she sounds terrified. 

“Everybody belongs in one of the houses, your house will be your second family. Follow me,” she tells us, and we do. We walk across a grand entrance and through a set of double doors. Inside are four long tables, with a banner over each table. The one on the far right has a lion, over red and gold, Gryffindor. The one to the left has a badger over yellow and black, Hufflepuff. The one of the far right has a snake over green and silver, Slytherin. The one to the left of it have an eagle over blue and bronze, Ravenclaw. We walk between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff up to the front. I see hanging in front to the professors is the banner of Slytherin, they must have won the house cup last year. 

Us first years stand as a group at the front and Professor Mcgonagall places an old, battered hat on an equally old three legged stool. The hat seems to puff up, then a line opens up, and the hat begins to sing,

“On this old stool you can see,  
Is just amazing old me.  
I am a hat that can look,  
I have more knowledge than any old book.  
I place you into a house,  
You might even sleep with a mouse.  
Do you belong in Ravenclaw,  
People see them as very smart.  
They value knowledge above the law,  
And this is a start.  
Maybe Hufflepuff is where you want to be,  
Where they are loyal and hardworking.  
If I place you here, you will see,  
You might even want to sing.  
Slytherin is where those who are cunning dwell,  
Some people believe they are all have blood that is pure.  
Others believe they are evil as hell,  
But this is where your friends are sure.  
Or maybe even Gryffindor,  
Where the brave are sorted to.  
They always fight for more,  
But they will always fight for you.  
So come on over and take a seat,  
And rest your tired, little feet.  
I will place you will you will belong,  
And you will graduate before too long.”

The hat stops singing, and everybody breaks into applause. Then Professor Mcgonagall unrolls a sheet of parchment and reads off names.

“Abbott, Mary,” the girl from before, with dark hair goes forward, and before the hat can settle on her head, it shouts “Hufflepuff,” and she runs to her table.

“Black, Sirius,” the hall grow deathly silent, I whisper a good luck, but I don't think he heard me. He sits on the stool, and the hat is placed on his head. We wait, and wait, and wait, I can see Sirius talking to the hat, and finally the hat shouts “Gryffindor,” and the hall is quiet, until Gryffindor starts to cheer. Sirius walks down to the table, and he has a huge grin plastered to his face.

“Evans, Lily,” and the red haired girl walks up, she turns and flashes a thumbs up to the black haired boy, then sits on the stool. The hat is on her head for a minute, then shouts “Gryffindor,” and she walks down and shakes hands with Sirius. The black haired boy looks sad, but I do not know why.

Several names pass until, “Lupin, Remus,” is called and I pay attention. He crosses his fingers and sits on the stool, the hat is placed on his head and immediately the hat shouts “Gryffindor,” and he runs off with the hat on his head. He has to walk back and give the hat back.

Several more names pass and “Pettigrew, Peter,” is called. If I thought Sirius took long to be sorted, then Peter took an eternity. The hat was on his head for at least five minutes, and then the hat shouted “Gryffindor,” and he walked off.

“Potter, James,” is called, and I walk to the stool. I wonder where I will go. The hat is placed over my my head and face. The hat whispers in my ear, “where should you go. You are clever, and brave, but loyal and cunning. You could go anywhere, but what would suit you best. Let's see, you are more cunning than you are loyal, so Hufflepuff is gone, and you are braver than you are clever, so Ravenclaw is gone. Slytherin or Gryffindor. Here's what it will be, Gryffindor,” the last part is shouted, and I make my way to my friends, and shake hands with Lily.

I hear “Snape, Severus,” and I hear Lily complain when he is sorted into Slytherin, apparently they are friends. Professor Mcgonagall takes the stool and hat away, and food appears on the table in front of us. We eat until we are full, and the headmaster tells the prefects to take us to our dorms. All the houses except Slytherin head up the main staircase, their dormitory is in the dungeons. We walk up and up until we feel we can walk no more. We stop at a painting with a very fat lady dressed in pink.

“Password?” she asks and she sounds bored. She looks down at us, then looks at her hands.

“They move, they talk, how?” Lily gasps. I hear small whispers in her ear and she nods.

“The password for this month is _Rubrum Ranam_ ,” our male prefect says and the portrait swings open. We all climb through, and he continues, “We change our password every month, look at the notice board to know the next password. Never tell anybody else our password, and no other houses are allowed in ours. I am Richard Brown, and our female prefect is Abigail Smith. Any questions?” He asks, and we all shake our head, “Then males follow me, females follow Abigail, we will show you to the dormitories.” We follow him up the spiral staircase and stop at the door that says First Years. 

We walk in and there are seven four poster beds arranged in a circle. Our belongings are in the center of the room. We all claim a bed, and I end up between Sirius and Peter. We introduce ourselves and I learn that for the next seven years, I will share a room with Sirius, Remus, Peter, Antony, Sam, and Alexander. We get ready for bed, and as soon as my head touches the pillow, I am asleep.


	2. The Howler and The Letters

Sirius wakes me up and we get ready. We all head down to great hall. I meet the first year girls, Lily, Alexandria, who is Alexander's twin sister, Jasmine, Maria, Charlotte, Brianna, and Elizabeth. When we reach the great hall, I get a finally clear look at everybody. I already knew what Remus, Sirius, and Peter looked like, and Lily is pale with green eyes and red hair. Alexandria and Alexander both have blond hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. Jasmine has dark skin, curly, black hair, and brown eyes. Maria is Hispanic, and has straight black hair with tanned skin. Charlotte, Brianna, and Elizabeth all have copper hair, grey eyes, and are very pale. They might be sisters. Antony has blue hair, but he must have dyed it, and skin like mine. Sam has green hair, dark skin, and brown eyes. 

Professor Mcgonagall goes around handing out class schedules, I learn she is our head of house. 

Our class schedule has our classes, but also the house we will share the class with. Monday's we have Double Potions with Slytherin, then lunch, Charms with Hufflepuff, Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, a break with Hufflepuff, then at midnight we have Astronomy with Hufflepuff. Tuesday's we have Herbology with Hufflepuff, History of Magic with Ravenclaw, then lunch, Double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, and Potions with Slytherin. Wednesday's we have Double Charms with Hufflepuff, then lunch, Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, a break with Slytherin, then at midnight we have Astronomy with Ravenclaw. Thursday's we have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Slytherin, Potions with Slytherin, then lunch, Charmes with Hufflepuff, and Double Herbology with Hufflepuff. Friday's we have Double Transfiguration with Ravenclaw, then lunch, Double History of Magic with Ravenclaw, a break with Ravenclaw, then at midnight we have Astronomy with Slytherin. 

We eat quickly, then the fourteen of us head down to Potions. “Just our luck to have Double Potions on our first day,” Sirius grumbles.

“I think we are very lucky, I get to see Severus in my first class,” Lily tells us. We walk into the Potions classroom and our head of house is upfront.

“Find your seats quickly, sit anywhere, then we will learn names,” our teacher tells us in a deep voice. Once everybody is seated, he calls roll, and makes a comment on everybody. “Now, if you are interested in Potions, or do a wonderful job in class, I will invite you to my Slug Club next year. We have weekly meetings, and learn more advanced potions. Many people do not consider Potions magic, but this class will prove you wrong, and most magical jobs require you to be able to make potions. Now, pull out your books, turn to page one, and begin reading about safety and procedures,” he says and everybody starts. 

The rest of our classes are much the same, but then dinner comes around, and everything changes. “Look, I got a letter, I wonder why I didn't get it for breakfast,” Sirius points out. The letter comes down and floats in the air in front of him. I see him go pale, and I understand why, a howler. He reaches up a finger and touches the wax seal. 

The letter forms a mouth and begins to shout, “ _ **Sirius Orion Black**_ ,” everybody in the great hall went quiet. Everybody knew what the shouting meant, except for a few first year muggle borns, and everybody wanted to hear, “ _ **explain yourself this instance! How dare you get placed in Gryffindor!**_ ” Everybody now knew where to look, and it would only be a matter of time until everybody looked at Sirius. Sirius started getting red. “ _ **You are supposed to be in Slytherin with sweet Andromeda, Bellatrix, and Narcissa**_.” Everybody swung their heads to look at the girls in question, and they looked calm, collected, and not at all bothered by the howler, so everybody looked at Sirius again. “ _ **You are a disgrace. You better be making some proper pureblood friends in that house of yours**_.” Everybody looked at all the first years, who Sirius would no doubt be friends with. “ _ **No blood-traitors, half-breeds, and especially not any mudbloods or you will be out of the family with your name burned off the family tree. Your cousins will be watching. You are such a disgrace**_ ,” and with that, the letter floated to the table. Sirius was trying and failing to not show any emotion. He calmly stood from the table, and walked out of the great hall. Everybody watched. The rest of us first years also rose, we have Astronomy at midnight, and we need a nap.

~

We are walking to Astronomy when we encounter some Slytherins. “Made mummy mad, did you?” One asks Sirius.

“Leave him alone! Hey cousin, can I talk to you, your friends can come along if you want,” a tall pretty Slytherin tells us. We follow her to a less used path, “don't worry about that howler, I got one last year telling me to stop dating a muggleborn or I would be off the family tree, and I'm still on it, aren't I?” She says, and Sirius brightens up. “I'm Andromeda Black, Sirius’ cousin,” she introduces herself.

“I'm James Potter,” I tell her.

“Remus Lupin,” Remus says quietly.

“Peter Pettigrew,” Peter says in his high pitched voice.

“Well, I have to be off, but it was nice meeting you,” she tells us, and runs off.

~

The next day, I write a letter to my parents

_Dear mum and dad,_

_How are things? I have made many friends, but my closest are three boys named Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. So far, I like Sirius the best, the others are cool too. I haven't learned much yet, but when I learn something cool, I'll write. I'm about to go to classes, I'll be waiting for your reply._

_Love,_

_James Potter_

I sent the letter when I got my morning mail, I didn't feel like walking all the way up to the owlery. When dinner comes, I get a letter, must be from my parents. I open the letter, and it is from both mum and dad, they took turns writing the letter

_Dear James,_

_I am very happy that you have made many friends, and I hope you are behaving. I don't want any letters telling me you were bad. **I love that you have made friends, but I feel young Mr. Black could be a bad influence on you. His family is not a good one, and they are normally very dark.** I support what your father believes, I have been the guest at an event with the Blacks present, and they are not very nice. I am glad you have started classes, and I hope you have made a good impression on all of your teachers. **Make sure you get good grades in all of your classes, and write soon. I enjoy your company, son, and I do wish your presence was in the house.** What your father is trying to say is that he loves and misses you,I do too._

_Love,_

_Mum_

**_Love,_ **

**_Dad_ **

I read my letter and let out a sigh, looks like I will have to prove them wrong about the Black family. “What's wrong James?” Sirius asks me, he must have heard me.

“My parents don't want me to be friends with you, they say you might be a bad influence,” I see his face fall, and carry on not giving him a chance to speak, “but it does not matter, I will prove them wrong,” and a grin grows on his face.


	3. Sirius?

We plan the prank for the fourth week of school. It had to be widespread, but it doesn't have to harm anybody. During the second week of school, Remus missed classes for a few days, we were all worried about him. We took notes for him, and even found books for the assignments. 

“Are we sure this will work?” Peter asks, he pointed out the students who pranked him, a couple of older Slytherins.

“Of course, we all watched the potion being made, so that couldn't have been wrong, we just have to apply the potion where the Slytherins are likely to encounter it,” Sirius tells us, and he sounds so confident. We decided to use a potion since none of us are any good at magic yet.

“How can we apply the potion and not get caught,” Remus asks.

“I have a way,” I tell them without meaning to, I'm supposed to keep this secret. 

“Really, how?” Sirius questions with delight.

“I…I have this…this tool…just follow me, I…I will just show it to you,” I stammer out. We walk up to the dormitory and over to my trunk. I dig to the very bottom on the right side and pull out my invisibility cloak. “Mum and dad gave this to me before I got on the train,” I tell them. I put the cloak on, and they all gasp.

“You disappeared!” Remus points out.

“Thanks captain obvious,” Sirius says, and Remus glares at him. “Why didn't you tell us you have an invisibility cloak, James?”

“Mum and dad told me to keep it secret,” I sound defensive.

“Now we won't get caught, we just need to know where to apply the potion,” Peter tells us.

“How about on the banisters?” Sirius asks.

“Too many, plus we are trying to get as many people as we can, not everybody touches the banister,” Remus points out.

“The sinks!” I say.

“What are you talking about?” Sirius asks.

“We could apply them to all the sinks in the school! Well, except the ones in the houses, but by lunch, most people have to use the bathroom, so we could get the sinks!” I tell them excitedly.

“Great plan, but if we want breakfast, we should go down to the great hall,” Remus says, and his stomach growls. When we get down, I write a letter to mum and dad

_Dear mum and dad,_

_School is so much fun, and Hogwarts is just like to told me it would be. Remus missed a few classes last week. When he came back, he said it was family issues, I hope his family is doing well. Sirius is great, while Remus was out, he took notes for him, and he suggested we find books in the library for the assignments we got. We have to write a twelve inch essay on the procedures and safety hazards for Potions, can you believe it? Peter is really smart though, so he helps us. I hope you are both doing well._

_P.S. Can you send me more quills? I broke a few, and others went missing._

_Love,_

_James Potter_

We don't have classes today, so we walk up to the owlery. Remus and I both have letters. Tomorrow is Monday, so we will go out and apply the potion tonight. Tomorrow will be great.

~

We wait until everybody is asleep, then we go down to the common room. We hid the bottles with the potion in them behind the books on a bookshelf. We each get a few bottles, and put them in our pockets. We all get under the cloak, and walk out. We all go to the bathrooms, Remus and Peter or Peter and Sirius go into the boy's bathroom, while me and the fourth boy go into the girls, since we have the cloak. Them we go to pick up the other two. We go faster this way, and it only takes us two hours to get all the sinks.

~

_Dear James,_

_I am very glad that you are having fun, and you were worried you wouldn't fit in. We did tell you it would be fine. **We did, and you didn't believe us. I do hope your friend Remus is okay, and that was nice of Mr. Black to take notes for him.** Yes, give Remus my condolences, and I hope you helped Sirius in the note taking, your penmanship is better than most boys your age. On a different note, do you want any extra books on your classes, we could get them to help you. **Me and your mum are doing fine and are having a great amount of fun. I do hope you are taking care of your things, and not breaking your quills on purpose.**_

**_Love,_ **

**_Dad_ **

_Love,_

_Mum_

“Remus, my mum gives her condolences on your family issues. Sirius, dad says it was kind of you to take notes for Remus while he was away,” I tell the two of them. I wonder if my parents are warming up to Sirius. We go to classes, and people start going to the bathroom, we can tell, since the potion causes you to turn a different color. We applied different ones to different sinks. The potions in the girls bathroom got you to turn red, orange, and purple, while the ones in the boys bathroom made you turn yellow, green, and blue. The potion could also transfer from person to person, so you can color each other. The best part is that the potion does not wash off, and lasts for weeks, unless you use the correct spell.

“I told you this would be amazing,” Sirius whispers to us.

“I think the best part is that it looks amazing and does not hurt people,” Remus says, and he has a smile on his lips. By the end of the week, everybody has color on them except for the four of us.

~

“James, are you awake?” Sirius whispers to me.

“Yeah, mate, what is it?” I ask back.

“Can we go down to the common room, I don't what anybody to hear,” he tells me, and he sounds scared, so I follow him down.

“What's wrong?” I ask while sitting down.

“I got another letter, Bellatrix told my mum I was hanging out with you, Remus, and Peter. She said I was in for it when I get home, I don't know what to do, James,” he tells me, and he sounds desperate.

“What's wrong with being friends with us?” I ask, and I really don't know.

“According to her, you are a blood-traitor, and they are half-bloods, they are not proper friends,” Sirius stops and tries to hold in a sob.

“What does it mean to be in for it?” I say while holding Sirius in a tight embrace.

“She might hex me, really bad, or throw things at me. Dad could do worse, I've seen it, but never experienced it. What do I do, James?” And I do not know, but then an idea hits me.

“If it ever gets to be too much, you can come to my place to get away,” I tell him my address.

“Really?” He asks me.

“Of course, you can just floo on over, and we could hang out,” I tell him. 

“Thank you James, thank you so much!” Sirius says, and he jumps on me. We hug for longer than normal, but then he backs away and looks embarrassed. We walk back up, and Sirius wipes at his eyes. “It doesn't look like I was crying, does it?” He asks, and I shake my head. We walk in and he sits on his bed. “James?” I take one look at him, and walk over. I sit on his bed, and he scoots over. We lay down together, and I fall asleep in his bed that night.

~  
Weeks pass, and we make sleeping together a routine, every Friday. Remus realizes what we are up to one night, and he joins our routine. It is almost winter break, we all sign up to go home. Remus always disappears once a month for a few days. Sirius always insist we take notes and do anything to help on assignments. I write my parents at least once a week, they always contain messages about my friends. Three days before we are to leave to go home, I get a letter

_**Dear James,** _

_**Your mother does not know I am writing this letter, but when you get home, we will have a very long talk about your choice of friends. Mr. Black is not, and never will be, a good friend. His family is too dark, and he is just using you. Your mother actually thinks he might be different than his family, but you cannot be different than how you are raised. Do not mention this letter to your mother, we will be waiting for you at the third pillar.** _

_**Your father** _

I wrote a letter in response immediately

_Dear dad,_

_What have you and mum always taught me? You guys taught me to judge people based on their actions, not their family name, but what are you doing? You are judging Sirius without giving him a chance. He is different from his family, he gets letters and howlers all the time because he is friends with Remus, Peter, and I. Apparently we are not good friend choice since I am a blood-traitor, and Remus and Peter are half-bloods. He is my best mate, and is like a brother to me, I will continue to be friends with him, and you cannot stop me. His family may be dark, but Sirius is light._

_Very angry,_

_James_

I might get in trouble when I get home, but I do not care, I will never stop being friends with Sirius. Beside me, Remus looks pale, Sirius does too. “What's wrong?” I ask. Sirius hands me a letter, it must be from his parents

_Dear Sirius,_

_I am ashamed of you, everybody in the Black family is/was a respectable Slytherin. First you got placed in Gryffindor, then you can't even make proper friends. I wish you would just listen, but no matter, you are no longer the heir to the Black name, so you will no longer be head of house. We have passed the title onto your brother Regulus. If you can prove yourself, your father and I might reconsider. You might as well be a blood-traitor yourself._

_Sincerely,_

_Mum_

“I'm sorry Sirius, but my offer still stands, and you know that. It won't be all bad,” I tell him, but I wouldn't know, my parents aren't like this.

“It shouldn't get to me this much, they have belittled you all since I got here. They have always been bad, but now it has really happened. They might as well have burned my name off the tapestry,” Sirius tells us in a dejected tone.

“It's alright, you have every right to be upset, their family. And if it makes you feel better, I am used to being belittled. My whole family is,” Remus tells him.

“Why's that?” Sirius sniffles.

“My father, who is part of a long line of wizards, married a muggle, they think he lost his marbles,” Remus says with a smile, but I can tell that is not the only reason.

~

Soon, we a boarding the train to go back to King’s Cross Station. We tell jokes and talk the whole way. We reach the station, and all hug a goodbye. Peter walks off first, saying his parents are already here. A tall man comes up, and he must be Remus’ father, because they look exactly alike. “Hello Remus, are you ready to go?” He asks.

“One moment father,” Remus tells him turning to us. “This is James Potter and Sirius Black, my friends that I told you about.” The man looks at us again.

“Thank you for taking notes for my son while he is away,” he thanks Sirius.

“It was not trouble, I hope everything at home is fine,” Sirius responds politely.

“Yes it is. Thank you for being so nice to my son, and making him more open, you will not believe the change,”he thanks me, and I see Remus looking anywhere except me.

“Of course, he's been great too,” I tell him. They walk off together, and I hope everything is fine. Then I see my parents, and Sirius stiffens beside me. 

“Sirius, where have you been, I have been looking everywhere for you,” a short, fat lady yells at the same time my dad says in a quieter tone, “James, we told you to meet us by the third pillar. We have things to do, and don't have time for you to lolly gag with Mr. Black.”  
Our parents seem to notice each other for the first time. “Mrs. Black,” dad says while Mrs. Black mutters, “Blood-traitor.” They glare at each other, then dad grabs me by the arm, while Mrs. Black grabs Sirius by the arm.

“See ya on the train back James!” Sirius shouts.

“See ya Sirius!” I shout back.

~

I get ready for bed, and I'm in my quaffle pajamas. I brush my teeth, then I lay down. I fall asleep quickly.

~

James is asleep, and the house is quiet. My husband is sitting in a chair across from me reading a book. I am knitting. I am about to pack up when I see a flash of green and hear a thump. Somebody flooed us. My husband looks equally startled. I look in front of the fire and see the skinniest boy with the palest skin imaginable. I hear a muffled sob, and I walk over to the boy. He scrambles to his feet when I get near.

“Hello, I'm Mrs. Potter, what's your name?” I ask, and I see him relax a little when I tell him my name.

“S-Sirius B-Black…J-James told m-me…I could c-come if it…g-got bad at h-home,” he tells me between sobs. This is James best friend that he talks about all the time?

“Shush, don't worry, James talks about you all the time, when you are ready, tell me what happened,” I say slowly. We wait until his sobs slow until it is only an occasional sniffle.

“Can I see James?” He asks.

“James is sleep, can you tell me what's wrong?”

“Sirius?” I hear the sleepy question behind me and know it is James.

“James!” He runs over to James and hugs him. “I tried, really, I did. She kept throwing stinging hexs at me, or she would use stupefy. I couldn't take it any more. She locked me in my room, she wouldn't feed me, and she told the house elves not to. Andromeda finally took pity on me and let me out. I went right to dad’s study and flooed over.”

“Oh Sirius, don't worry, I told you that you could come over when it got bad and I meant it. Can he stay mum?” James asks me.

“Um, I guess it would be alright. I take it that you didn't bring anything with you, did you Sirius?” I ask and he shakes his head. “Follow me you two.” They follow me to James room, and I go through his pajamas for a matching set. I fin the snitch pajamas and hand them over to Sirius. I tuck James into bed, and have Sirius follow me. I get the purple blanket and a spare pillow and set him up on the pull out couch. “You can sleep here, and we will figure out a plan in the morning.”

~

An hour later, I go to check on Sirius and see James right beside him. 

They are both tall and skinny with dark hair. 

They are tangled around eachother. 

The are sharing a pillow. 

They could be brothers.

Sirius could have been born into another life, but I am glad James decided to be friends with him.


End file.
